HAVANA - Capt. Reinaldo Delgado, sector chief of the National Police on
Sept. 16 warned independent merchants in Placetas, central Cuba, that they
would be fined between 200 and 3,500 pesos if they persisted in their
"illegal" activities.

The warning was directed at more than 50 merchants who sell dollars and
sundry goods in improvised marketplaces outside the doors of the official
dollar stores. He said they must cease their sales or face fines.

The official dollar stores, which the Cubans call "shoppings," sell goods
that are otherwise unavailable in Cuba for dollars. But other merchants
hustle either dollars or various other kinds of merchandise in the streets
to
supplement their average wage of about 200 pesos a month.